Real Talk, Blogging, and What We Focus On

There are no recipes in this post, so if you are only looking for food stuff, this one isn't for you.  

Through Good Times and Bad

I want to address something about this blog and my social media accounts.  

I try to take nice pictures (and I'm getting better, but I realize they are nothing like those of professional bloggers).  

I try to post mostly healthy meals, pretty meals, things that I'm proud of and that will bring joy to myself and others by sharing.

I don't post much about how picky my son is and his refusal to eat most food I make.  He is living off apples, avocado sushi, peanut butter sandwiches, and candy...  This too shall pass, but it's a source of a lot of frustration for me, and a very real trigger for my depression.  

I don't post about how messy my kitchen is almost all the time, or how messy the rest of my house is because I spend so much time in the kitchen making messes.

I don't post about my suicidal depression, or my pms/probably PMDD (but I'm so bad at self-care I haven't seen a doctor in 3 years so I have no diagnoses).  

There's a movement now in social media to be more "real" about the good and bad, which often comes across by criticizing those who post perfect pictures online as being fake, and reassurances that we are all a hot mess (if you didn't already know that, yeah, everyone is a hot mess in their own way, don't worry).  I completely appreciate and respect this movement, and I may do things like use a cardboard display board to block my dirty dishes when I take a picture or video (i.e., my rainbow sherbet blog post where the pics and video aren't even "perfect," but at least you can't see the enormous tower of dishes covering the counter behind that display board), but I am also open about recipe flops or where a recipe might use improvement.

The thing is, for me, it's not about being fake, it's about not wallowing in my sadness and defeats.  I get in a very bad head space when I talk too much about my depression/triggers.  Therapeutic talk is positive, but sharing with strangers (and sometimes even friends) just takes me to a bad place.  Some people call it putting up walls, but they are what keep me okay-ish, and that's important.

So, while I'm not going to lie and share a recipe that tastes gross just because I can take a pretty picture, I'm also not going to spend a lot of time talking about my picky eater crying because I offered him a taste of soup.  It's just really defeating for me.  

Why I Do What I Do

Why a big emotional post on a fun blog about kitchen gadgets and veganism?  

Because all that mental stuff is why I'm here.  Kitchen gadgets that made my life easier are how I get through all this.  Gadgets that make cooking fun and whimsical help me find joy in something I do daily.  Eating a vegan diet lifts a weight off my mind and soul because I feel that I'm feeding my family healthily and compassionately, and for someone who still struggles with negative self-talk, that's 3 meals a day to remind myself that I'm doing something right for my family- and it's healing.  

I share my recipes, experiences, and gadget love for others who either seek out fun in the kitchen, or for those who are feeling overwhelmed by the prospect of cooking and need some fun inspiration.  

Let's Have Fun

I can be real with you, and I will be real with you, but my social media accounts and my blog are a FUN outlet.  If you want to have fun in the kitchen, join me!  If you aren't having fun in the kitchen and need some inspiration, JOIN ME! 
If seeing my cute lunches and silly dinners and waffle for breakfast make you feel like a failure, know that there is dog hair in every corner of my house, laundry piled to the ceiling, and I am hanging on by a thread, but I'm hanging on, so hang on with me!

On Facebook

On Instagram

On Periscope @KitchenGadgetVegan (full disclosure, I haven't yet figured out how this works, so I just have it set up, but who knows when I will take over the scoping world and you wouldn't want to miss that).

Real Talk:  My life has not been easy, but focusing all the easy things in my life has made it easier to deal with the hard stuff.  Let me help you find ease and joy in the kitchen- because the kitchen is the best!